Culture in Cyberspace

Cyberspace, this word has stormed into our language and invaded our collective consciousness like no other. As the technology improves and ownership of home computers increases, we competently navigate our way around cyberspace, downloading information, reading and writing to newsgroups and receiving and sending emails. Additionally, cyberspace represents the new medium of communication, electronic communication, which is fast outmoding, or even replacing, more traditional methods of communication. People often send emails in place of paper letters, they leave electronic messages on bulletin boards rather than pinning slips of card to wooden notice boards, and more frequently people are able to read texts on-line, in e-journals for example, rather than on good old-fashioned wood pulp. The physical objects of traditional communication (letters, books and so on) are being superseded by new electronic objects and just as physical objects exist in physical space, thus these cyber objects exist in cyberspace.

Cyberspace can be described as imaginary, intangible, virtual-realty realm where computer communication and simulation and Internet activity takes place. The electronic equivalent of human psyche, which is the mind space where thinking and dreaming occur, cyberspace is the domain where objects are neither physical nor representations of the physical world, but are made up entirely of data manipulation and information. According to William Gibson, a Canadian science-fiction writer, cyberspace is a domain characterized by the use of electronics and the electromagnetic spectrum to store, modify, and exchange data via networked systems and associated physical infrastructures. In effect, cyberspace can be thought of as the interconnection of human beings through computers and telecommunication, without regard to physical geography. There are two spurs of cyberspace. First, is a 3-D cyber spatial environment, which humans can enter and move through, interacting with both computer and other human beings. World of networks of computer linked via cables and routers (similar to telephone connections), which enable us to communicate, store and retrieve information. By far the largest and most well known of these is the Internet. It is originally used for email, ftp (file transfer), bulletin boards and newsgroups, and telnet (remote computer access), and now ever more of a household name courtesy of the World Wide Web, which allows simple stress-free navigation of the network. This second spur of cyberspace encompasses not only the connections between computers, but also the browser and email software, which transmits information, plus the internal space of the microchip and other electronic storage technologies – the places in which information actually resides.

Culture in cyberspace is usually known as cyber culture or computer culture. Cyberculture is the culture that has emerged from the use of computer networks for communication, entertainment and business. It is also the study of various social phenomena associated with the Internet and other new forms of network communication, such as online communities, online multi-player gaming, social gaming, social media and texting.

Moreover, the ethnography of cyberspace is an important aspect of cyberculture that does not reflect a single unified culture. It is not a monolithic or placeless cyberspace, rather it is numerous new technologies and capabilities used by diverse people, in divers real world locations. It is malleable, perishable and can be shaped by the vagaries of external forces on its users. There are several types of cyberculture, it includes various human interactions mediated by computer networks. They can be activities, pursuits, games, places and metaphors and include a diverse base of applications. Through these types of cyberculture, Internet language is used widely. Examples include, Blog, Social Networks, Chat and Games.

References

Jordan, T. (n.d.). Cyberpower: The Culture and Politics of Cyberspace. [online] Isoc.org. Available at: https://www.isoc.org/inet99/proceedings/3i/3i_1.htm [Accessed 1 Jul. 2014].

Macek, J. (2005). Defining Cyberculture. [online] Macek.czechian.net. Available at: http://macek.czechian.net/defining_cyberculture.htm [Accessed 1 Jul. 2014].

Rouse, M. (2011). What is cyberspace? - Definition from WhatIs.com. [online] Searchsoa.techtarget.com. Available at: http://searchsoa.techtarget.com/definition/cyberspace [Accessed 1 Jul. 2014].